Pagenaud has also won two of the three previous races on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course.Will Power is the only other driver to win at Indy's new road course, taking first in 2015.Four different drivers have claimed victories in the first four races of 2017.

Only three years had passed.

"A win is good for everyone", Power said of crew morale. "But yeah, really cool to start at the front again".

On Saturday afternoon, the stars finally aligned for the Team Penske driver. Teammates Helio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden qualified second and Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth. He had won seven other races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway prior to the Indy 500 and had come out of retirement to participate in the inaugural race-clearly his expertise paid off, as did his use of a makeshift rearview mirror, which was unusual at the time and almost banned. "This group isn't happy if we're not on the top step (of the podium), but we've had a lot of bad luck this year, a lot of misfortune. I missed it by a tenth and a-half, and I made a hundred mistakes in the lap".

Simon Pagenaud, of France, speeds through a turn during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 13, 2017, in Indianapolis.

"I pushed my tires way too hard early, and Helio was right on me", Power said.

"The thing about the 500 is you don't really have a plan, to be honest".

Boles has his own personal connection with his 25-year-old stepson, Conor Daly, trying to make his fourth straight 500 start. That's how tough and unpredictable IndyCar's competition has been to this point, which makes the GP particularly worth watching as a barometer going into the Indianapolis 500.

"Good points for everybody on the NTT Data auto, great day for Honda".

Newgarden will start third, his best starting position in the race.

Will Power celebrates his second IndyCar Grand Prix victory. Every single one yet I was slowest on every straight.

With Will Power dominating practice, qualifying and the IndyCar Grand Prix for his first win of the season, just about everyone else in Gasoline Alley began looking ahead to Monday's opening practice for the Indianapolis 500.

"It was kind of like we were in the middle of a Penske-fest, " Bourdais said. "Excited for tomorrow. Hopefully we have a good, clean start and see what happens in the race".

Montoya is one of the most successful crossover racing drivers in modern times.

"Since we had such a crappy grand prix, I think (our focus) shifted 30 minutes ago", Schmidt said shortly after the race ended. We couldn't really hold onto the rear tires. I'm pretty happy with the vehicle but the Chevys are going to be hard to beat. "I mean, I didn't think it could have been faster".

It's not been a good recent run for Bourdais, who opened the season with a victory at St. Petersburg, Fla. "You (have to) get in a groove - you have plenty of time to get in that grove". You know, it's quite good. Despite being a rookie with little racing experience, George Souders started 22 and took the lead with 51 laps to go, after which he never relinquished it.

"I was just concentrating on hitting my marks", he said. So you know, they worked every day except Sunday. "Honda have got their act together on the big ovals".

Pagenaud and Power each have won the race twice in the race's four-year history.

All three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires conducted the first of two weekend races Friday on the IMS road course. Kyle Kaiser won the Indy Lights race, beating Santi Urrutia by 6.4768 seconds.

Will Power swept to pole position for Saturday's INDYCAR Grand Prix with a new track record on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's grand prix layout, heading up a 1-2-3 lock-out for Penske. He did so in 2015 and Simon Pagenaud followed suit past year.

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